Tie down devices are used for anchoring one end of chain or cable or other such member for securing a vehicle, stand or the like to the floor, whereby the anchored member is restrained from movement. It is imperative that a vehicle must be restrained or held fast in position so that sideward pulls and pushes may be applied to the vehicle to correct damaged frame and body portions. Generally, in body shops, these tie down devices are arranged in a grid pattern in a poured concrete floor and are spaced at proper intervals to allow ready connection to portions of a vehicle desired to be restrained. The tie down devices are normally embedded in the floor by a drill core of approximately four inches in diameter being removed and an anchor pot, or tie down device, being emplaced and secured. One such tie down device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,207, owned by the assignee of the present invention, and includes a wedge member movable through the bore of a body member so as to deform cantilevered segments in a radial pattern beyond a normal outer diameter of the body member to grip the surrounding concrete wall of the bore.
Chains or other such connecting members are attachable to the tie down device because, as shown in the above '207 patent, a top member of the tie down device includes a cross shaped aperture into which a chain may be inserted. Certain car stands may also serve as anchoring devices, provided that they include a means for secure connection to the tie down device. One such stand is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,131, also owned by the assignee hereof and which discloses a stand having a rectangular base, a rectangular pyramidal base with a pinchweld clamp arrangement at the top and an anchor bolt and nut to longitudinally draw the bolt and securely attach the stand to the anchor pot. In order to position a vehicle upon the anchor stand shown in the '131 patent, the vehicle had to be elevated as by floor jacks, with the wheels placed on movable dollies and moved to a position over the floor anchor grid system. Thereafter, the anchor stands of the '131 patent are placed under the vehicle, the pinchweld clamps secured to the vehicle and the anchor bolts connected to the floor pot and tightened.
The present invention provides a drive-on vehicle supporting arrangement which is particularly adapted for economical operation and provides, at low cost to the garage owner, a quick elevation system using removable treadways whereby a vehicle can be driven up ramps onto an elevated treadway, secured atop vehicle support stands whereby the vehicle is restrained from movement and then the treadways removed for freedom of access to the vehicle to facilitate repair.